Monday, January 17, 2011

Our Kitchen Tour

Well, fellow cooks -- I can't tell you how excited I am to share our renovated kitchen with you today!

During our first year of marriage, we took a Dave Ramsey course. After that, we started planing and saving so that when we were in a position to buy a house we'd have some money saved up to do some updating. We fell in love with our house, and saw great potential in the kitchen. In August, we moved into our first home - a big change from our tiny apartment kitchen.

Although we loved the space in the kitchen, there were a few things we wanted to change:

First - the cabinets.

Laminate front, dark and um, not the most pretty looking. Since we spend so much time in the kitchen, we wanted something light, airy and fresh.

We painted the cabinets a Delicate Lace, painted two accent walls blue and later added some hardware.

Second - the corner cabinet

The access into the corner cabinet (just to the left of the stove) was painful. Since we planned to replace the counter top, we got my dad's help to swap in a lazy susan!

Third - the counters {and sink}

Sea foam green, although a pretty color, is not our color. The old laminate counter tops had to go. We decided on a solid surface countertop - and we LOVE it.

We went with a double sink, with one side larger than the other. It's amazing. That thing can hold so many dishes, and even fit in our biggest pots and pans.

It's also seamless -- which makes clean up a breeze.

Fourth - the back splash

We wanted tile, and found a beautiful one at Lowe's -- for, get this - ~20 cents a tile.

That gave us a few extra dollars to apply to our new faucet {which we purchased with garage sale money!}

Fifth - open the kitchen up

We love the layout and flow of our home, but the kitchen was entirely closed off from the rest of the house.

This is a view from the dining room to the kitchen. See that tiny door? That was the only "openness".

We decided to transform this space into an eat-in kitchen. My dad built us a cabinet with amazing storage space, and then we put counter top over the cabinet with extra hanging over into the dining room for an eat-in-kitchen, island kind of thing.

That, is my favorite part of the kitchen, friends. It's amazing. The openness is wonderful and allows for fluid conversation and for people to "hang out" near/in the kitchen.

So, here's the grand finale --

And, a side-by-side comparison

{it's fun to see the transformation right next to each other}

Thanks for sharing in our excitement! In the coming weeks, I'll give you a overview of what's in the kitchen - to kind of show you around a bit. And, I'll be updating our "In My Kitchen" page to include these new photos and a tour!

Your kitchen looks awesome! My husband and I also took Dave Ramsey's course. We are currently still in our smaller place and waiting for the Lord's timing to move. I am dreaming of my some-day kitchen! Congrats on getting yours!

A few years ago my husband and I did some DIY renovation/updating to our kitchen. Not quite on the scale that you did, but just changing a few things really gave our kitchen a facelift! If only I could figure a way to add more space :)

Oh my word! What a transformation!!! I love the cabinet/island/eat-in area your dad helped with- brilliant! Your light fixture is super-cool too! I am dreaming of one day moving back to the States and loving my kitchen again- wherever it is! My dad is also super-handy, so hopefully he'll be close by. I also appreciate how purposeful you were in planning for and budgeting for your kitchen. You really earned it which I am sure makes you love it that much more. Well done. ;)

Thank you so much for taking time to lave a comment. I have seen your blog and name before, so it was an honor to see it on mine. ;)

Looks GREAT! Your new kitchen is set up EXACTLY how my new kitchen is....Island placement and everything. Ours is already open to the dining room though. I'm planning to do so many of the same things you did! Thanks for sharing your before and after's with us...it is so FUN to share in your excitement!

I love it! And what great deals you seem to have found (like the tile!). Well done! We put a large serving window from our kitchen looking into our dining room in order to open it up as well and that has made a huge difference. Enjoy it! You guys deserve it!

Great job!!! We have these same cabinets in our family room kitchen...they're in pretty decent shape, just ugly. I wasn't sure if we could paint them, but now that I know, it looks as if another remodel is in the works! I am inspired! Enjoy your new kitchen~you deserve it!

oh man, that's awesome! i wish we could open ours up like that, but it wouldn't work without moving an entire wall of perfectly fine cabinets, and then switching the living room and dining room. oh well! great job on yours!

Your kitchen looks amazing! The way you opened it up to the dining room gives it a totally different feel. I also like that you didn't just gut everything but improved upon what you had. Great job! And a wise woman, too, to not go into debt over it!

You have inspired us to redo our kitchen. We just sanded, primed and painted all our cupboards last week and put handles on and I am working on sorting out all the contents of the cupboards and putting new liner in -- we LOVE it. Thanks for the inspiration! Next, THE COUNTERTOP!

So.. I plug in "chex mix made with olive oil" and I'm led to finding Joy! You, my dears, are adorable in every way!!! Your site is fantastic and you are two incredible people (obvious that frog prince gets some credit). seniorita32@yahoo.com

When cooking, please make sure to follow kitchen hygiene and safety -- cook meat until internal temperature is at safe levels, always check labels for allergens, and use caution in the kitchen -- I love sharing recipes, but I am not liable for damages done as a result of trying these recipes.